August 23, 2016

Seeing More Than A Stellar Tennis Match, Much More...

Sitting courtside and watching the yellow ball slam back and forth can be a heart racing, adrenaline rushing experience. If you are a diehard tennis fan like me, you'd see why tennis is a game of superlative physical and mental caliber. I'm taking in an exciting match between Andy Murray and Marin Cilic at the Western & Southern Open Finals in Cincinnati, one of the most important hard court tournaments leading up to the US Open. The raw power of the players and fan fervor aside, there is something else enriching my experience here ─ a layer of data and insights into the ongoing match and players. These insights are like tiny stories around every point scored or lost, cumulatively enhancing the understanding of the game and its practitioners that up until now one may have thought one knew well. Let me give you some examples:

98 hours and counting: In 2016 Andy Murray spent 5886 minutes on court in the ATP World Tour, which is 1819 minutes more of competitive tennis this season than Marin Cilic.